22/05/29 프란치스코 교황 성하의 2022년 제56차 홍보 주일 담화 (2022년 5월 29일) - 마음의 귀로 경청하기

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프란치스코 교황 성하의 
2022년 제56차 홍보 주일 담화
(2022년 5월 29일)

마음의 귀로 경청하기

사랑하는 형제자매 여러분,

지난해 우리는 사건들을 체험하고 사람들을 만나는 데에서 시작하여 현실을 발견하고 그 현실에 관하여 이야기할 수 있도록 ‘와서 보는 것’의 필요성을 성찰하였습니다. 이 연장선에서, 저는 이제 소통의 법칙과 참된 대화를 위한 조건에 결정적 역할을 하는 또 다른 말 ‘경청하다’에 주목하고자 합니다. 

사실, 일상적 관계의 평범한 흐름 속에서도 시민 생활의 가장 굵직한 사안들에 대하여 논쟁할 때에도, 우리는 눈앞에 있는 이들에게 귀 기울이는 능력을 잃어버리고 있습니다. 동시에 경청은 이용 가능한 다양한 팟캐스트와 오디오 메시지를 통하여 커뮤니케이션과 정보의 분야에서 중요한 새로운 발전을 이루어 가고 있습니다. 팟캐스트와 오디오 메시지는 인간의 소통에서 경청이 여전히 필수라는 사실을 확인시켜 줍니다. 

영혼의 상처를 치유하는 일에 일가견이 있는 한 훌륭한 의사는 인간 존재의 가장 큰 욕구가 무엇인가에 대한 질문을 받은 적이 있습니다. 그는 “경청받고자 하는 끝없는 갈망”이라고 대답하였습니다. 이 갈망은 대체로 숨겨져 있지만, 교육자나 양성자로 부름받았거나 소통의 역할을 하는 이들, 곧 부모, 교사, 사목자, 사목 협력자, 커뮤니케이션 전문가 그리고 사회와 정치에 봉사하는 이들에게는 도전 과제가 됩니다. 

마음의 귀로 경청하기

성경 본문을 통해서 우리는 경청이 소리의 인식을 의미하는 것만이 아니라 하느님과 인류가 이루는 대화의 관계에 본질적으로 연관되어 있다는 사실을 알게 됩니다. “이스라엘아, 들어라(쉐마 이스라엘)!”(신명 6,4) 토라(Torah)의 첫 계명을 시작하는 이 말은 성경에서 계속 되풀이되고, 바오로 사도가 “믿음은 들음에서 온다”(로마 10,17)고 확언하기에 이를 정도입니다. 사실 주도권은 우리에게 말씀하시는 하느님께 있고, 우리는 그 말씀을 경청하여 그분께 응답을 드립니다. 결국 이 경청도 하느님의 은총으로부터 옵니다. 부모의 눈길과 목소리에 반응하는 갓 태어난 아기에게서 이를 볼 수 있습니다. 오감 가운데 하느님께서 가장 귀하게 여기시는 감각은 청각인 듯합니다. 아마도 이는 청각이 시각보다 압도하는 힘은 약하고, 분별하는 힘은 더 강하여 인간 존재를 더 자유롭게 하기 때문일 것입니다. 

경청은 하느님의 겸손한 방식과 상응합니다. 바로 이 경청을 통해서 하느님께서는 말씀으로 인간을 당신 모습대로 창조하시고 경청으로 인간을 당신의 대화 상대로 삼으시는 분으로서 당신을 직접 드러내실 수 있습니다. 하느님께서는 인류를 사랑하십니다. 이것이 바로 하느님께서 인간에게 말씀하시는 이유이며, 이것이 바로 인간에게 경청하고자 ‘당신의 귀를 기울이시는’ 이유입니다. 

반면에 인간은 관계에서 도피하고 등을 돌리며 ‘귀를 닫으려는’ 경향이 있습니다. 그리하여 경청하지 않아도 되게 하려는 것입니다. 경청에 대한 거부는 종종 다른 이를 향한 공격으로 변하고 맙니다. 이는 스테파노 부제의 말을 경청하다가 귀를 막고 모두 일제히 그에게 달려들었던 이들에게 일어났던 일(사도 7,57 참조)과 마찬가지입니다. 

그러나 하느님께서는 자유롭게 소통하시면서 언제나 당신 자신을 드러내십니다. 한편 인간은 하느님께 주파수를 맞추라고, 곧 하느님께 기꺼이 경청하라고 요청받습니다. 주님께서는 인간을 사랑의 계약으로 분명히 부르시어 인간이 온전히 본연의 모습이 될 수 있게 하십니다. 다시 말해, 인간이 경청하고 환대하며 다른 이들에게 곁을 주는 능력으로 하느님과 비슷하게 하느님 모습이 될 수 있게 하십니다. 근본적으로 경청은 사랑의 차원입니다. 

이것이 예수님께서 당신 제자들에게 자신들의 경청하는 자질을 살피라고 요청하시는 이유입니다. “너희는 어떻게 들어야 하는지 잘 헤아려라”(루카 8,18). 이는 예수님께서는 씨 뿌리는 사람의 비유를 이야기해 주신 다음, 제자들에게 단지 듣는 것으로 충분하지 않고 새겨듣는 것이 필요하다는 것을 이해시키시며 그렇게 하라고 권고하신 말씀입니다. ‘올곧고 착한’ 마음으로 말씀을 받아들이고 충실히 간직하는 이들만이 생명과 구원의 열매를 맺습니다(루카 8,15 참조). 우리가 누구에게 경청하는지, 무엇을 경청하는지, 어떻게 경청하는지 주의를 기울임으로써만 우리는 이론이나 기술이 아니라 “친밀함을 가능하게 하는 마음 열기”(「복음의 기쁨」[Evangelii Gaudium], 171항)가 중심인 소통의 예술을 키워나갈 수 있습니다. 

우리는 모두 귀가 있지만, 청력이 완전한 이들조차 다른 이에게 귀 기울이지 못하는 경우가 많습니다. 실제로 신체적 청력 상실보다 더 심한 내적 귀먹음이 있습니다. 참으로 경청은 그저 청각이 아니라 한 인간 전체와 관련되어 있습니다. 경청의 진정한 자리는 마음입니다. 솔로몬 임금은 매우 젊지만 지혜로운 모습을 보였는데, 이는 그가 주님께 “듣는 마음”을 달라고 청하였기 때문입니다(1열왕 3,9 참조). 아우구스티노 성인은 마음으로 경청하라고(corde audire), 말씀을 귀를 통하여 겉으로만이 아니라 우리 마음을 통하여 영적으로 받아들이라고 권고하곤 하였습니다. “여러분의 귀에 마음을 두지 말고, 마음에 귀를 두십시오.”1)  아시시의 프란치스코 성인은 “마음의 귀를 기울이라”고 형제들에게 권고하였습니다.2) 

그러므로 참된 소통을 추구할 때 재발견되어야 하는 경청의 첫 번째 형태는 자기 자신에 대한 경청, 한 사람 한 사람의 존재 깊숙이 새겨진 저마다의 가장 참된 요구에 대한 경청입니다. 그래서 우리는 피조물 안에서 우리를 고유하게 만드는 것, 곧 다른 이들과 그리고 타자이신 그분과 관계를 맺고자 하는 열망을 경청하는 데에서 비로소 시작할 수 있습니다. 우리는 원자들처럼 살도록 지어지지 않았습니다. 다만 우리는 함께 살도록 지어졌습니다. 

좋은 소통의 조건인 경청

참된 경청이 아니라 그 반대의 듣는 형태가 있습니다. 바로 엿듣기입니다. 사실 엿듣고 염탐하며 자신의 이익을 위하여 다른 이를 이용하는 일은 언제나 존재하는 유혹이고 오늘날 소셜 네트워크의 시대에 더욱 간교해진 듯합니다. 오히려 온전히 인간적이고 좋은 소통이 분명히 이루어지게 하는 것은 우리 앞에 있는 사람을 직접 만나서 하는 경청, 우리가 다가가는 이들에게 공정하고 당당하며 정직하고 열린 마음으로 하는 경청입니다.

우리가 일상에서 너무나 자주 경험하는 경청의 부족이 불행히도 공공 생활에서도 명백하게 존재합니다. 우리는 서로 경청하는 대신 자주 ‘서로 자기 말만 합니다.’ 이것은 진리와 선을 추구하기보다 합의가 추구된다는 실상을 나타내는 증상입니다. 경청하기보다 청중에게 주목하는 증상입니다. 그러나 좋은 소통이란 상대방을 깎아내리고자 촌철살인의 말로 대중에게 인상을 남기려는 것이 아니라, 상대방의 의도에 주목하고 현실의 복합적인 면을 이해하고자 노력하는 것입니다. 교회에서조차 이념적인 노선이 형성되고 경청이 사라져 무익한 대립들을 남기고 있어 마음이 아픕니다. 

실제로 우리는 수많은 대화를 나누면서도 전혀 소통하지 않습니다. 자신의 의견을 내세우려고 그저 상대방이 말을 마치기만을 기다립니다. 철학자 에이브러햄 캐플런(Abraham Kaplan)이 말한 대로, 이러한 상황에서 대화는 두 목소리가 각자 독백하는 이인극(duologue)일 뿐입니다.3) 그러나 참된 소통에서는 ‘나’와 ‘너’가 모두 ‘밖으로 나가’ 서로에게 다가갑니다. 

그래서 경청은 대화와 좋은 소통에서 없어서는 안 될 첫 번째 요소입니다. 경청이 이루어지지 않으면 소통은 이루어지지 않습니다. 경청하는 능력이 없으면 좋은 언론도 없습니다. 확실하고 치우치지 않으며 완전한 정보를 제공하려면 경청에 긴 시간을 들여야 합니다. 뉴스 보도로 사건을 알리거나 체험담을 설명하려면 경청하는 방법을 반드시 알아야 하고, 기꺼이 생각을 바꾸고 맨 처음 세웠던 가설을 수정하려는 자세도 필요합니다. 

참된 소통을 보장해 주는 목소리들의 조화는 독백에서 벗어나야만 이룰 수 있습니다. 커뮤니케이션 전문가들이 가르치듯이, ‘첫 번째 정보원에서 멈추는 것이 아니라’ 더 많은 출처에 귀 기울이는 것은 우리가 전하는 정보의 신뢰성과 진정성을 보증합니다. 더 많은 목소리를 경청함으로써, 교회 안에서도 형제자매들 사이에서 서로 경청함으로써 우리는 식별의 기술을 발휘하게 됩니다. 이 식별의 기술은 여러 목소리가 이루는 어우러짐 안에서 저마다 역할을 아는 능력으로 드러납니다. 

그런데 왜 경청의 수고를 들여야 할까요? 훌륭한 교황청 외교관인 아고스티노 카사롤리(Agostino Casaroli) 추기경은, 자유가 제약된 상황에서 최선의 효과를 거두고자, 가장 까다로운 상대와 협상하면서 상대방을 경청하고 또 상대방이 자신의 말을 경청하도록 하는 데에 필요한 ‘인내의 순교’를 말하곤 하였습니다. 그러나 그보다 수월한 상황에서조차 경청에는, 비록 일말의 진실일지라도 우리가 귀 기울이는 사람이 말하는 그 진실에 놀라는 능력과 함께 언제나 인내의 덕이 필요합니다. 놀라움만이 앎을 가능하게 합니다. 저는 눈을 크게 뜨고 주위 세상을 둘러보는 어린이의 무한한 호기심을 생각해 봅니다. 이러한 마음가짐으로, 곧 어른의 인식 안에 있는 어린이의 호기심으로 하는 경청은 언제나 풍성함을 줍니다. 아무리 사소한 것이라도 상대에게서 배우고 내 삶에서 열매를 맺을 수 있는 그 무엇인가가 언제나 존재할 것이기 때문입니다. 

사회에 귀 기울이는 역량은 길어진 감염병의 세계적 유행으로 상처 입은 이 시기에 그 어느 때보다 더 중요합니다. ‘공식 정보’에 대한 불신이 켜켜이 쌓여서 ‘가짜 정보의 유행’(infodemic)에 이르고 말았습니다. 그 안에서 정보 분야는 신뢰성과 투명성을 위하여 더 많은 비지땀을 흘리고 있습니다. 우리는 귀를 기울여 깊이 새겨들어야 합니다. 여러 경제 활동의 침체와 중단으로 고조된 사회 불안에 특히 귀 기울여야만 합니다. 

강제 이주의 현실 또한 복합적 사안입니다. 그 누구도 이를 해결할 수 있는 방안을 미리 갖추고 있지 않습니다. 저는 거듭 말씀드립니다. 이주민들에 대한 편견을 극복하고 우리 마음의 완고함을 누그러뜨리려면 그들의 이야기를 경청하는 노력을 기울여야만 합니다. 그들 한 사람 한 사람의 이름과 이야기를 밝혀 주십시오. 여러 훌륭한 언론인들이 이미 그 일을 하고 있습니다. 또 다른 많은 이들도 할 수만 있다면 그렇게 하고자 합니다. 그들에게 힘을 줍시다! 이주민들의 이야기에 귀 기울입시다! 그러면 모든 이가 얽매임에서 벗어나 자기 나라에 가장 알맞게 보이는 이민 정책을 지지할 것입니다. 그런데 그 어떠한 상황에서도 우리가 바라보아야 할 것은, 숫자도 아니요 위험한 침입자도 아닌 우리가 귀 기울여야 하는 진짜 사람들의 얼굴과 이야기, 그 시선과 기대와 고통입니다. 

교회 안에서 서로 경청하기

교회 안에서도 서로에 대한 경청이 절실히 필요합니다. 이는 우리가 서로 줄 수 있는 가장 소중하며 생명을 나누는 선물입니다. “그리스도인들은 탁월한 경청자이시며 당신의 일에 참여하도록 부르신 그분께서 경청의 직무를 맡기셨음을 잊었습니다. 하느님 말씀을 전할 수 있기를 바란다면 우리는 하느님의 귀로 들어야 합니다.”4) 이렇게 개신교 신학자인 디트리히 본회퍼(Dietrich Bonhoeffer)는 우리가 친교 안에서 다른 이들에게 해야 하는 첫 봉사는 경청임을 상기시킵니다. 자기 형제자매에게 귀 기울이는 법을 모르는 사람은 곧 하느님께도 더 이상 귀 기울일 수 없게 될 것입니다.5) 

사목 활동에서 가장 중요한 것은 ‘듣는 귀의 사도직’입니다. 야고보 사도의 권고처럼, 이는 말하기에 앞서 듣는 것입니다. “모든 사람이 듣기는 빨리 하되, 말하기는 더디 해야 합니다”(야고 1,19). 사람들에게 귀 기울이는 데에 우리 시간의 일부를 기꺼이 내어 주는 것이 애덕의 첫 번째 행동입니다. 

시노드 여정이 막 시작되었습니다. 서로 경청하는 큰 기회가 되도록 우리 함께 기도합시다. 실제로 친교는 전략과 프로그램의 결과가 아니라 형제자매들 사이의 상호 경청으로 이룩되는 것입니다. 합창단 안에서 그러하듯이, 일치는 획일화 곧 단성 음악이 필요한 것이 아니라 다수의 다양한 목소리 곧 다성 음악이 필요합니다. 동시에 합창단 안에서 각각의 목소리는 다른 이의 목소리에 귀 기울이면서 전체 화성과 어울려 노래합니다. 이러한 화성은 작곡가가 구상하지만 그 실현은 모든 이 저마다의 목소리가 만들어 내는 어우러짐에 달려 있습니다. 

우리보다 먼저 있었고 우리도 함께 이루는 친교에 참여한다는 인식을 통하여 우리는 어우러지는 교회를 재발견할 수 있습니다. 그러한 교회 안에서 모든 이는 다른 이들이 내는 목소리를 성령께서 작곡하시는 전체 화성을 드러내는 선물로서 환영하며 저마다 지닌 목소리로 노래할 수 있습니다.      


로마 성 요한 라테라노 대성전에서 
2022년 1월 24일
성 프란치스코 살레시오 주교 학자 기념일

프란치스코

1) 성 아우구스티노, “여러분은 귀에 마음을 두지 말고, 마음에 귀를 두십시오”(Nolite habere cor in auribus, sed aures in corde), 「설교」(Sermo) 380,1 󰡔새 아우구스티노 전집󰡕(Nuova Biblioteca Agostiniana) 34, 568.
2) 아시시의 성 프란치스코, 「모든 수도회 형제에게 보낸 편지」(Lettera a tutto l’Ordine), 『프란치스코 전집』(Fonti Francescane), 216.
3) J. D. Roslansky ed., “The life of dialogue”, Communication. A discussion at the Nobel Conference, North-Holland Publishing Company, Amsterdam, 1969, pp. 89-108 참조.
4) D. Bonhoeffer, Gemeinsames Leben, 1938, 7. unveränderte Auflage, München, 1953, S. 51.
5) Gemeinsames Leben, S. 50 참조.

<원문 Message of His Holiness Pope Francis for the 56th World Day of Social Communications, Listening with the Ear of the Heart, 2022.1.24., 영어와 이탈리아어>

영어:
https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/messages/communications/documents/20220124-messaggio-comunicazioni-sociali.html

MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS
FOR THE 56th WORLD DAY OF SOCIAL COMMUNICATIONS

Listening with the ear of the heart

Dear brothers and sisters,

Last year we reflected on the need to “Come and See” in order to discover reality and be able to recount it beginning with experiencing events and meeting people. Continuing in this vein, I would now like to draw attention to another word , “listen”, which is decisive in the grammar of communication and  a condition for genuine dialogue.

In fact, we are losing the ability to listen to those in front of us, both in the normal course of everyday relationships and when debating the most important issues of civil life. At the same time, listening is undergoing an important new development in the field of communication and information through the various podcasts and audio messages available that serve to confirm‎ that listening is still essential in human communication.

A respected doctor, accustomed to treating the wounds of the soul, was once asked what the greatest need of human beings is. He replied: “The boundless desire to be heard”. A desire that often remains hidden, but that challenges anyone who is called upon to be an educator or formator, or who otherwise performs a communicative role: parents and teachers, pastors and pastoral workers, communication professionals and others who carry out social or political service.

Listening with the ear of the heart

From the pages of Scripture we learn that listening means not only the perception of sound, but is essentially linked to the dialogical relationship between God and humanity. “Shema’ Israel - Hear, O Israel” (Dt 6:4), the opening words of the first commandment of the Torah, is continually reiterated in the Bible, to the point that Saint Paul would affirm that “faith comes through listening” (cf. Rom 10:17). The initiative, in fact, is God’s, who speaks to us, and to whom we respond by listening to him. In the end, even this listening comes from his grace, as is the case with the newborn child who responds to the gaze and the voice of his or her mother and father. Among the five senses, the one favoured by God seems to be hearing, perhaps because it is less invasive, more discreet than sight, and therefore leaves the human being more free.

Listening corresponds to the humble style of God. It is the action that allows God to reveal himself as the One who, by speaking, creates man and woman in his image, and by listening recognizes them as his partners in dialogue. God loves humanity: that is why he addresses his word to them, and why he “inclines his ear” to listen to them.

On the contrary, human beings tend to flee the relationship, to turn their back and “close their ears” so they do not have to listen. The refusal to listen often ends up turning into aggression towards the other, as happened to those listening to the deacon Stephen who, covering their ears, all turned on him at once (cf. Acts 7:57).

On the one hand, then, God always reveals himself by communicating freely; and on the other hand, man and woman are asked to tune in, to be willing to listen. The Lord explicitly calls the human person to a covenant of love, so that they can fully become what they are: the image and likeness of God in his capacity to listen, to welcome, to give space to others. Fundamentally, listening is a dimension of love.

This is why Jesus calls his disciples to eval‎uate the quality of their listening. “Take heed then how you hear” (Lk 8:18): this is what he exhorts them to do after recounting the parable of the sower, making it understood that it is not enough simply to listen, but that it is necessary to listen well. Only those who receive the word with an “honest and good” heart and keep it faithfully bear the fruit of life and salvation (cf. Lk 8:15). It is only by paying attention to whom we listen, to what we listen, and to howwe listen that we can grow in the art of communicating, the heart of which is not a theory or a technique, but the “openness of heart that makes closeness possible” (cf. Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, 171).

We all have ears, but many times even those with perfect hearing are unable to hear another person. In fact, there is an interior deafness worse than the physical one. Indeed, listening concerns the whole person, not just the sense of hearing.

The true seat of listening is the heart. Though he was very young, King Solomon proved himself wise because he asked the Lord to grant him a “listening heart” (cf. 1 Kings 3:9). Saint Augustine used to encourage listening with the heart ( corde audire), to receive words not outwardly through the ears, but spiritually in our hearts: “Do not have your heart in your ears, but your ears in your heart”. [1] Saint Francis of Assisi exhorted his brothers to “incline the ear of the heart”. [2]

Therefore, when seeking true communication, the first type of listening to be rediscovered is listening to oneself, to one’s truest needs, those inscribed in each person’s inmost being. And we can only start by listening to what makes us unique in creation: the desire to be in relationship with others and with the Other. We are not made to live like atoms, but together.

Listening as a condition of good communication

There is a kind of hearing that is not really listening, but its opposite: eavesdropping. In fact, eavesdropping and spying, exploiting others for our own interests, is an ever-present temptation that nowadays seems to have become more acute in the age of social networks. Rather, what specifically makes communication good and fully human is listening to the person in front of us, face to face, listening to the other person whom we approach with fair, confident, and honest openness.

The lack of listening, which we experience so often in daily life, is unfortunately also evident in public life, where, instead of listening to each other, we often “talk past one another”. This is a symptom of the fact that, rather than seeking the true and the good, consensus is sought; rather than listening, one pays attention to the audience. Good communication, instead, does not try to impress the public with a soundbite, with the aim of ridiculing the other person, but pays attention to the reasons of the other person and tries to grasp the complexity of reality. It is sad when, even in the Church, ideological alignments are formed and listening disappears, leaving sterile opposition in its wake.

In reality, in many dialogues we do not communicate at all. We are simply waiting for the other person to finish speaking in order to impose our point of view. In these situations, as philosopher Abraham Kaplan notes, [3] dialogue is a duologue: a monologue in two voices. In true communication, however, the “I” and the “you” are both “moving out”, reaching out to each other.

Listening is therefore the first indispensable ingredient of dialogue and good communication. Communication does not take place if listening has not taken place, and there is no good journalism without the ability to listen. In order to provide solid, balanced, and complete information, it is necessary to listen for a long time. To recount an event or describe an experience in news reporting, it is essential to know how to listen, to be ready to change one’s mind, to modify one’s initial assumptions.

It is only by putting aside monologues that the harmony of voices that is the guarantee of true communication can be achieved. Listening to several sources, “not stopping at the first tavern” — as the experts in the field teach us — ensures the reliability and seriousness of the information we transmit. Listening to several voices, listening to each other, even in the Church, among brothers and sisters, allows us to exercise the art of discernment, which always appears as the ability to orient ourselves in a symphony of voices.

But why face the exertion of listening? A great diplomat of the Holy See, Cardinal Agostino Casaroli, used to speak of the “martyrdom of patience” needed to listen and be heard in negotiations with the most difficult parties, in order to obtain the greatest possible good in conditions of limited freedom. But even in less difficult situations, listening always requires the virtue of patience, together with the ability to allow oneself to be surprised by the truth, even if only a fragment of truth, in the person we are listening to. Only amazement enables knowledge. I think of the infinite curiosity of the child who looks at the world around them with wide-open eyes. Listening with this frame of mind — the wonder of the child in the awareness of an adult — is always enriching because there will always be something, however small, that I can learn from the other person and allow to bear fruit in my own life.

The ability to listen to society is more valuable than ever in this time wounded by the long pandemic. So much previously accumulated mistrust towards “official information” has also caused an “infodemic”, within which the world of information is increasingly struggling to be credible and transparent. We need to lend an ear and listen profoundly, especially to the social unease heightened by the downturn or cessation of many economic activities.

The reality of forced migration is also a complex issue, and no one has a ready-made prescription for solving it. I repeat that, in order to overcome prejudices about migrants and to melt the hardness of our hearts, we should try to listen to their stories. Give each of them a name and a story. Many good journalists already do this. And many others would like to do it, if only they could. Let us encourage them! Let us listen to these stories! Everyone would then be free to support the migration policies they deem most appropriate for their own country. But in any case, we would have before our eyes not numbers, not dangerous invaders, but the faces and stories, gazes, expectations and sufferings of real men and women to listen to.

Listening to one another in the Church

In the Church, too, there is a great need to listen to and to hear one another. It is the most precious and life-giving gift we can offer each other. “Christians have forgotten that the ministry of listening has been committed to them by him who is himself the great listener and whose work they should share. We should listen with the ears of God that we may speak the word of God”  [4]. Thus, the Protestant theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer reminds us that the first service we owe to others in communion consists in listening to them. Whoever does not know how to listen to his brother or sister will soon no longer be able to listen to God either. [5]

The most important task in pastoral activity is the “apostolate of the ear” – to listen before speaking, as the Apostle James exhorts: “Let every man be quick to hear, slow to speak” (1:19). Freely giving some of our own time to listen to people is the first act of charity.

A synodal process has just been launched. Let us pray that it will be a great opportunity to listen to one another. Communion, in fact, is not the result of strategies and programmes, but is built in mutual listening between brothers and sisters. As in a choir, unity does not require uniformity, monotony, but the plurality and variety of voices, polyphony. At the same time, each voice in the choir sings while listening to the other voices and in relation to the harmony of the whole. This harmony is conceived by the composer, but its realization depends on the symphony of each and every voice.

With the awareness that we participate in a communion that precedes and includes us, we can rediscover a symphonic Church, in which each person is able to sing with his or her own voice, welcoming the voices of others as a gift to manifest the harmony of the whole that the Holy Spirit composes.

Rome, Saint John Lateran, 24 January 2022, Memorial of Saint Francis de Sales.

Franciscus

___________________________________________ 

[1] “ Nolite habere cor in auribus, sed aures in corde” ( Sermo 380, 1: Nuova Biblioteca Agostiniana 34, 568).

[2] “Lettera a tutto l’Ordine”: Fonti Francescane, 216.

[3] Cf. “The life of dialogue”, in J.D. Roslansky, ed., Communication. A discussion at the Nobel Conference, North-Holland Publishing Company, Amsterdam, 1969, pp. 89-198.

[4] D. Bonhoeffer, La vita comune, Queriniana, Brescia 2017, 76.

[5] Cf. ibid., 75.

이탈리아어:
https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/it/messages/communications/documents/20220124-messaggio-comunicazioni-sociali.html